ripper
    n 1: a murderer who slashes the victims with a knife; "Jack the
         Ripper was probably a madman"

Ripper \Rip"per\, n.
   1. One who, or that which, rips; a ripping tool.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A tool for trimming the edges of roofing slates.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Anything huge, extreme, startling, etc. [Slang.]
      [1913 Webster] Ripper act

Ripler \Rip"ler\, Ripper \Rip"per\, n. [Cf. Rip a basket, or
   Riparian.] (O.E. Law)
   One who brings fish from the seacoast to markets in inland
   towns. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         But what's the action we are for now ?
         Robbing a ripper of his fish.            --Beau. & Fl.
   [1913 Webster] Ripost

rip
ripper

    (From "rip off" - to steal) To copy
   audio or video, typically from a compact disc or DVD, to a
   file on a computer hard disk.  A dedicated program to do
   this is called a "ripper" though it is often a function of
   player software.

   Ripping usually includes converting the data to a format that
   is more suitable for computer playback, e.g. MP3 digital
   audio or DivX video.  The process is entirely digital so it
   is possible to make a perfect copy of the data.  However the
   resulting files are large (a few megabytes for an audio
   track, a few gigabytes for a film) so the conversion often
   includes compression to reduce the file size at the cost of
   some loss of quality.

   While it may be legal to do this for personal use,
   distributing a ripped copyright work to others could result in
   prosecution.

   See also ripcording.

   (2008-01-21)